Growing Up in Space And Time
by Pixel and Stephanie Forever
Summary: When Spaceship UK breaks up, the Doctor is only able to save the life of one little girl at the cost of another companion's life - Mandy Tanner. Feeling somewhat sorry for her, the Doctor offers Mandy a place to live and stay on the TARDIS, and Doctor and Mandy get to know one other as she grows up on the ship and has a life with a strange man in a strange and very old blue box.
1. The Journey Begins

**The Journey Begins**

"I'm sorry... I am so, so sorry" the Doctor said. He stood in the main console room of the TARDIS and watched as the little girl in front of him sat on the metal floor, knees drawn up together under her chin and rocking back and forth as she cried. "I tried to get others, but not even the woman I was with made it" he added, unsure as to what he was actually saying.

"But why did they have to die?" sobbed Mandy.

"Because I managed to fail" the Doctor said sadly, fiddling with his bow tie.

"What happens now?" the girl managed to stop crying.

"I continue to travel, with you in tow, or I can take you back in time to die with the others"

"If you are a time traveller, then why not go back and give them a warning?"

"I tried that once"

"What happened?"

"I blew up Cambridge"

"Oh"

"You see…"

"Mandy"

"You see, Mandy, people often talk about what they would do if they could go back in time. For example, would you go back to 1939 and kill Hitler?"

"Yes"

"Ah, but then his place is filled by somebody even more ruthless. Certain events can be changed without too many problems, but certain occasions and events are fixed and even I can't do a thing about it" the Doctor loosened his bow tie and sat beside the girl. "If I could go back and change things, Mandy, I would go back and save the lives of those most dear to me indeed"

"Like?" Mandy sniffed.

"Jamie, Victoria, Fred, Fred the Second, Katarina, Donna and my dear, dear sweet and beautiful Susan"

"She your girlfriend?"

"Susan?" the Doctor made a face. "She was my Granddaughter… Started off on my journey hundreds or years ago"

"Hundreds? You don't look that old"

"Its… It's a little trick my people have" the Doctor decided that now was not the best time to explain the whole system of Gallifreyan regeneration. "We were somewhat exiled from our home planet and we wondered around having adventure after adventure until one day I made her leave me. I was a silly old duffer back then and she'd met a boy her own age and I wanted her to have a normal and happy life"

"Oh" Mandy hugged her knees and let silent tears run down her cheeks and onto her school uniform jumper. "So what are you going to do with me?" she asked the Doctor.

"I don't know" he replied. "I can take you back a day and let you die with your loved ones, I can find you a suitable human family to live with on one of the other colonies or perhaps you…"

"Doctor?"

"Perhaps you might like to travel with me"

"Won't that blow up time or something?"

"It'll blow up a planet or something at worst" and then a pained look of hurt, anger and regret ran over the expression of the Doctor – causing Mandy to frown and put aside her own thoughts for a moment. "Wouldn't be the first time" he added bitterly.

"Huh?"

"My people fought a terrible and costly war against a race known as the Daleks"

"I know that!" Mandy said. "Every kid is told about the Battle of Canary Wharf at school. Something to do with metal men and Daleks"

"_Sort of_ like that" the Doctor rubbed the sides of his head, "But this took part in both space and time. In the end, nearly the entire Dalek fleet surrounded Gallifrey to kill my people. But my people were almost as blood thirsty as the Daleks and I decided to…" he stopped. "Bad day, Mandy Tanner - Very bad day indeed"

"So there are other Time-Lords, yeah?" she asked.

"No, there were, but there aren't. Just me now. Long story, it was a bad day, bad stuff happened and you know what? I'd love to forget it all, every last minute of it, but I don't. Now, I have to decide what to do with you"

"What do you mean?"

"Well you know what happens with the Star Whale, so that leaves me with only a few options"

"Like what?"

"Well I can take you back in time and leave you to die when the time comes, I can take you to one of the other colonies and let them take you in or I could…"

"Could what?" asked Mandy as she let her legs straighten.

"Or I could let you travel with me" the Doctor grinned.

"With you?" Mandy frowned.

"You'd be the smallest companion, but certainly not the most unintelligent. There have been plenty of people travelling with me over the years, right old girl?"

"I'm not old" Mandy protested. She would have said something else but there was a warm breeze around her and the Doctor which puzzled her.

"Ah yes, should have said… The TARDIS is alive. Well not really. Well sort of. Well sort of not and is really"

"I don't understand"

"I don't sometimes" the Doctor admitted. "Soooooooooo" he drew the word out, "What do you want to do?" and Mandy thought as hard as she had ever had to do in her short life. She didn't really want to die at all, and the thought of being put on another of the colonies was too bizarre to her.

"May I stay with you please?" she asked.

"Of course you can" the Doctor looked into the middle of the control room. "What do you think, old girl?" and the TARDIS lights blinked in a strange pattern and warm air flowed round their feet.

"I guess she likes me" Mandy smiled despite the very recent events.

"She likes children" the Doctor replied. "Although I think she is reminded of Susan…"

"Can I ask you for one thing?"

"Just the one?"

"Well it is sort of big" Mandy suddenly wondered if it was a good idea to mess around with Time. From what the Doctor said, it was very important not to play around with it.

"'kay… what?"

"You said that you can't go back and save people, right?"

"Yes" the pain flash over the Doctor's face again.

"Can we at least go back and get my things? I don't suppose any of the ladys' things would fit me"

"I don't suppose that's too bad" the Doctor thought about it. "We can only do this once, though Mandy. I did many trips to the past for the same event once before, but it didn't work out very well"

"Bad things happen?"

"You catch on fast" the Doctor pulled Mandy to her feet and put one arm around her in a comforting hug. "You know, I can't change the rules but I can bend them a little"

#

"Am I doing the right thing?" asked the Doctor.

The air was warm…

"Amy waited for so long for me to come back, and now she dies after they made the wrong choice. Should I bend the rules and get her away?"

The air turned cold…

"Maybe I could do both… She is supposed to die, that much is certain, but perhaps it is not meant to be here. Maybe if I got her off the ship, back to Leavenworth and then came back here for Mandy everything would be alright"

The air was lukewarm…

"Oh come on, old girl!" the Doctor protested loudly at the vast ceiling of the TARDIS. "I've done so much that time and space owe me a few favours"

The air became slightly warmer…

"I can't tell Amy what to do with her life, but perhaps I can give a few hints for her future"

The air became more warm…

"I've followed enough rules in my time – perhaps it is time we misbehaved eh, old girl?"

The air became very warm indeed…

"I thought you might agree to that" the Doctor laughed. "Now, to find a point in time that Amy wasn't near me…" he bent to the console and started working.

The air became even warmer for a moment before dropping to a more comfortable level…

"You old softie…"

#

"I thought you had gone" said Mandy. "I looked over all of the levels but I couldn't see you. I… I was thinking I'd die"

"No… I had to take somebody home first" the Doctor replied, looking at all the boxes laying over the room. A small room with a bed was against one wall and a couple of shelves filled another. A large wardrobe and inset drawers lined yet another. "Are you sure you want to do this?" asked the Doctor. "Once you leave you can never come back again…"

"I'm sure" said Mandy. "I want to see everything I can" she added, "But I know it will be hard to get over what is going to happen" and the Doctor nodded.

"It was the same for me all those hundreds of years ago…" he admitted. "I used to stay awake at night thinking and wondering if I had done the right thing in leaving and taking my beloved Susan with me"

"I guess you liked her"

"She was… _is_ my Granddaughter... Of course I like her. I only wish that I could visit her, but its one of those bad things, Mandy… A very bad thing indeed" and Mandy understood what he meant.

"Where am I going to sleep?" she asked. "I saw some corridors going away, but they didn't look as if they were going to any bedrooms. I suppose I could sleep on the floor" she added, smoothing out her uniform that she was still wearing.

"On the floor? _On the floor?_" the Doctor protested loudly. "I'm sure the TARDIS can find you a room or even make you one if you'd like – she's quite clever about that you know. She once made me a bedroom in the shape of an enormous bedroom"

"Right" Mandy suppressed a laugh and settled for a smile. "You sound mad"

"Oh I'm quite mad really" the Doctor grinned at her. "I'm really quite mad" and he picked up a box and carried it inside the time machine. "Have you got anything?" he asked the girl as he came back out. "Once you've left here you can never return" and Mandy nodded sadly.

"How long until…"

"Four hours" the Doctor replied. "Why?"

"Can I spend it with my family?" Mandy asked. The Doctor was about to say something when she added "But I promise not to tell them what is going to happen" and the Doctor sighed.

"Perhaps I might be able to do something to help you" he said, making up his mind to change history a little. "Go and find your family and your closest friends and bring them back here"

"Why?"

"There are rules about time, Mandy – but rules can be broken! I've searched all of time and space for what happened to Starship UK and it was never decided how many died and how many found a way off before the Star Whale broke the colony off its back"

"Right?"

"I could take a few people off in the TARDIS to a nearby habitable planet to set up a home there"

"How many?"

"Two or three families should not be missed" the Doctor said. "I would take more but I am breaking the rules even for this, so I don't want a wibbly wobbly timey whimey explosion"

"That a bad thing?"

"Very bad, but even more so for you. Even saving your family and a few others, you can't go with them"

"I thought that might be the case" Mandy replied sadly. She picked up a box and carried it inside the TARDIS and placed it with the others next to the central console. As she stood up, the phone started ringing and she picked it up. "Hello? Doctor? There's somebody calling you"

"Who is it?" he asked.

"Who is it? Say's he is the Prime Minister"

"Which one?"

"Oh, sorry… Um, but which one are you?" and Mandy's eyes widened. "He says he's Winston Churchill"

"Winnie?" the Doctor dropped a box of books and took the phone off the girl. Mandy watched as the Doctor talked for several minutes to the person on the other end of the phone before he slammed it down on the holder. "That man keeps asking me to interfere in his battles…" he muttered.

"Excuse me, Mr Doctor"

"Just the Doctor – no Mr… Mr makes me sound old"

"But you _are_ old"

"I'm only 900 odd years old"

"That's old enough" Mandy insisted with a wrinkle of her nose.

"You sound like Donna. She was another of my Companions, Mandy, but one I can never visit again"

"Why?"

"Think of a water balloon that's full of water. Actually, that's a rubbish idea – think of something else but if it helps, think of a water balloon"

"Water balloon – right"

"What happens when you fill one too much?"

"It bursts?" Mandy was hesitant.

"Exactly… Donna's head became so full of information that I had to take away her memories of me, this old girl and the travels she had with me. Bad day. Now, let's get these boxes in and then we'll see what we can do about saving people"

"Have you ever had a good day?"

"November 23rd 1963" the Doctor replied. "Round about quarter past five I think"

"That's precise timing"

"Yeah, I know… I'm a Time Lord – deal with it. Right then" he clapped his hands together "Let's find you a room" and he picked up the remaining boxes and carried them into the TARDIS. "Oh, I should tell you this now and not later over your body"

"_Body_?" Mandy stared at the Doctor.

"Ah yes… Really shouldn't the children like that – makes them scared and not wanting to eat fish fingers. Anyway, moving on… There are rooms and rooms and rooms in the TARDIS. So many, in fact, that I often think I haven't found all of them just yet. Some of the rooms have stuff you shouldn't mess around with such as Ace's old cans of Nitro-9, Leela's weapons, Jack's old guns… I'll put up a sticker or something to remind you. There's also lots of labs here and lots of rooms were dangerous chemicals, animals and devices are kept safe and out of sight and mind – _never go in there_" and Mandy nodded at the warning. If she was going to leave her family and travel with the Doctor, she promised herself to be the best girl ever.

"How will I know which ones not to go into?" she asked.

"You don't at first, but the old girl here simply will not let you inside them until you are much older" the Doctor patted the console affectionately. Mandy was beginning to wonder if the Doctor was somewhat mad or the TARDIS was, perhaps, alive. "I have to do some stuff that's important – actually its not important its really rather boring, but its also important… Why don't you go and find your room?"

"How do I find it?" asked Mandy.

"You'll know because the TARDIS will make a door appear for you when she thinks she has the perfect room for you. Plus, if you want something adding, it'll be in the TARDIS storage rooms so just ask aloud"

"Ask aloud? Now that's silly"

"Really?" the Doctor raised an eyebrow. "Whats your favourite Ice Cream?"

"Strawberry" Mandy replied.

"Any chance, old girl?" and Mandy frowned, looked down and saw a perfect bowl of Ice Cream sitting on one of the boxes as if it had always been there.

"That's magic" she breathed.

"I like to think so" the Doctor smiled. "Now, Mandy, you take your magical Ice Cream and have a little look around the TARDIS – I need to do my complicated, important and not so important things"

"Okay, Doctor" and the girl stepped down from the console and headed out one of the doorways. The Doctor watched and waited for the footsteps to recede before picking up the console phone and dialing a number.

"Martha? Are you busy about two days from now around half past ten in the morning?" he listened to the reply. "I need your help with something? No… You're not going off on another crazy adventure, but I just need your professional help. No, Martha, I am not sick at all – Time Lords are very robust you know. I just need you to give your professional opinion on somebody that's travelling with me now. Okay? Bye, Martha" he put the phone down and stroked the console of the TARDIS. "Do you think that we could make her happy, old girl?" he asked. "That's no answer…!" he muttered as the TARDIS flickered lights in the room and blew warm air around him. "I'm taking her from her home and all that she knows to live with me – she's never going to come home. Will she hate me for it? Am I doing the right thing?" and there was a pause as the Doctor thought and then a screen lit up and displayed a single word.

_Yes_

"Why do you never do that normally?" he asked.

_I prefer my normal manner_

"You do! Of course you do! You wouldn't be the TARDIS otherwise"

The TARDIS, not for the first time, wondered why she ever thought about stealing the Doctor all those centuries ago…

**A/N:**

**Well I hope you liked the first chapter of the new fic.**

**For those who might have forgotten, Mandy Tanner was the little girl that helped both the Doctor and Amy in "The Beast Below" – the one with the Star Whale. At the end of the episode there was a question that either made the Whale leave the colony or stay "alive" but also "dead". The leaving option would result in the Starship UK colony being destroyed. I wondered what would happen if that choice was selected but Amy died and instead managed to save Mandy – to whom he extended an offer of Companionship after he tells her she can never go back to what she knew.**

**Past happenings include references to past TARDIS occupants, past stories and how the Doctor supposedly left Gallifrey.**

**The Doctor bending time to go back and change a little bit of history is based on the events of "Fathers Day" when Roses saves her father from death and ends up causing issues. However, if there was never any certainty as to who lived and died in Starship UK's breakup, then he could get away with saving a fair amount of people - and, as he mentioned to Mandy and the TARDIS, time owes him a couple**

**Reviews in the normal manner. All hate reviews will be fed to the Dalek in my basement which will **_**EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!**_

**Regards,**

**Pixel and Stephanie Forever**


	2. Doctor Jones? Calling Doctor Jones

**Doctor Jones? Doctor Jones? Calling Doctor Jones!**

"I'm so going to make you pay for this, Doctor" the young black woman said as she sat at the bottom of her garden. Martha pulled the coat she was wearing tighter and, as she did so, heard the familiar groaning and wheezing noise that sounded like a piano wire being attacked by a key of some sort. "At last" she got up from the garden chair, picked up her bag and walked over to the doors of the TARDIS and knocked twice.

"Ah, Martha!" the Doctor beamed at her. "Yes, I've regenerated. Had a nasty case of radiation poisoning, but I got better as you can see"

"What do you want that has me waiting at the bottom of my freezing cold garden?"

"Cold?" the Doctor frowned. "Well you best come in then… Hot Air please!" he shouted. Martha heard a slight humming noise before warm air surrounded her body and began warming her up to a more normal temperature. "Right, well as you gathered I need a Human Doctor to do all the Humany check ups"

"Not Donna is it?"

"Er… No, Martha – bad things happened. She's alive, but bad things happened to her anyway. Why don't you come to the library and I'll introduce you to your patient?" and Martha rolled her eyes and followed the young looking Doctor through corridors until they ended up in the library that Martha had spent a lot of time in reading up on Alien Physiology. Sitting at a desk wearing her school uniform was Mandy – the girl looking up at the approach of the pair as they got closer to her. She was writing in a standard exercise book and looking at sheets of paper and at open books – clearly studying something. As Martha got closer, she could see one of the books was a copy of a mathematics text for primary school aged children.

"Do I want to know what happened?" asked Martha.

"Had a bit of an issue with a Space Whale and a Colony on its back. I was able to save Mandy here and a few others, but because of a lot of boring and baffling time laws she has to stay with me" the Doctor said.

"She looks okay" said Martha.

"I am alright" said Mandy. "I finished the Times Table and some of the maths texts you gave me" she proudly held them up to show the Doctor – her delicate handwriting flowing from side to side on the paper.

"That's great" said the Doctor. "I'll have a look at them in a minute. This is Martha – she used to travel with me for a while. She's a Doctor"

"Like you?"

"Not quite" the Doctor smiled. "She's only a medical Doctor, but she is a very good one indeed. I thought she could give you a check up and make sure everything is working fine"

"Oh… Couldn't you do it?" Mandy asked.

"Well, yes… But you see I thought–"

"The Doctor thought you might be a little bit more comfortable with a lady Doctor then himself" Martha said. "I might have to ask you things that could be embarrassing"

"To him or me?"

"Oh, I like you already" Martha laughed. "The Medical Bay still in the same way?" she asked the Doctor.

"I think so" he replied, loosening his bow tie slightly. "I'm sure the TARDIS will move it closer if you asked nicely. Why don't you go with Martha and she can see to what she needs to do, I'll check your work and then we'll all have tea when you've finished?"

"Sounds great" Martha said. "You are fully stocked, right?"

"Got everything to treat her" said the Doctor.

"I meant for you. UNIT have got some drugs on hand if you ever need to use them"

"That'll be the Brigadier's doing I suspect" the Doctor smiled at the thought of one of his oldest friends – one of the few soldiers he had respect for. "Right then…! I'll look at these and you do what you have to. Meet me in the Kitchen afterwards?" and Mandy nodded and gave the Doctor the book she was in and moved towards the doorway.

"You alright?" asked Martha. She had seen a look of sadness and self hatred coming from the Doctor. The woman had often noticed it whenever he had been around children, but she had no idea whatsoever where it had come from.

"Course I am. I'm always alright, me!" and he sat down and picked up a pen and started working on Mandy's maths work. Shrugging to herself, she followed Mandy with the bag containing the tools of her profession to the Medical Bay.

# # # # #

"So, Mandy, first things first – have you ever had an exam by a Doctor before?" Martha asked the girl.

"When the Doctor first took me into the TARDIS" she replied, swinging her legs under the examining table as she spoke. "He looked me over and found a couple of cuts so he took care of them, but nothing else"

"Right then" Martha nodded and opened her bag. "I need to ask you some questions, alright, and then we'll get down to checking you all over"

"What are you going to look for?" asked Mandy with a hint of curiosity that all children had.

"Well we take a little sample of your blood, put it through some tests and then see if there is anything wrong – then we can deal with it. Mainly it's just like making sure your body is alright and in perfect working order"

"Oh"

"Yep! When was the last time you was ill and what happened?"

"I had a bad cold when I was tiny"

"Oh that's nothing" Martha said. "Have you had all of your jabs?"

"Jabs?" Mandy frowned.

"Immunisation" Martha said, thinking that they might have another term for it in the far and distant future.

"No"

"Oh, well we'll just have to see to those in a bit then" Martha said. "Now, has anything at all happened to you that doesn't normally happen to you?"

"No"

"That sounded a little too quick for my liking" Martha replied. "Now then… Shall we try again?" and Mandy nodded.

"I've been getting nightmares, Miss" she said. "And I um… The Doctor won't hear about this will he?"

"Only if I think he needs to" said Martha, putting one hand on the unsure girl's shoulder in support.

"Well if you promise…" Mandy hesitated for several moments before plunging on. "I wet the bed from the nightmares. I panicked about it but the TARDIS helped me out"

"She's kind like that"

"I like her" and the pair were sounded by a light rumbling musical noise and warm air.

"I think she likes you too. Doing that at your age is perfectly normal after what you've been through" Martha assured her. Martha picked up some of her tools and went to work – checking each and every angle of Mandy for any complications. Next, she located the medical scanner and ran it over so that the medical computer on the TARDIS would have a complete skeletal record to compare. Privately, Martha loved it better then X-Ray machines she used at any hospital – even the Torchwood facilities. "Do you stock any child suitable injections?" she asked the TARDIS.

A blast of warm air on her right side only…

"The universal TARDIS code for 'This Way' I think" and Mandy giggled. A small supply of inoculations was kept in a cupboard that was securely locked and out of the possible reach of Mandy. After getting the girl to take off her jumper, Martha pushed the needle into her arm and administered the dose. She repeated this several times more before putting little plasters on the puncture sites.

"Thank you" Mandy said.

"It's my job" Martha said in reply. "Now sometimes these little jabs might make you a little sick, but that's only so your body can build up a defence against it"

"Okay"

"Now…" Martha sat in a chair next to the bed and looked at Mandy. "Now how about you talk to me about the bad dreams?"

"Just bad dreams about what happened with all the other kids" said Mandy, and the girl talked all about her bad dreams – not noticing the shadow of the Doctor as he stood and listened. Martha had, though, and spotted the droop in the shadow as the Time Lord heard things that seemed to affect him. She made a point to ask him about it later before she left the TARDIS.

# # # # #

"What do you plan to do now?" asked Martha later on.

"I'm thinking of settling down in the Vortex for a while" the Doctor said. "A few days or so for sure" he added.

"Doctor…" Martha looked around to see if Mandy was around but the girl was busy in her room. "I saw you listening in to Mandy talking about her nightmares"

"So?"

"Well I saw you react when she talked about the children from where she came from"

"So?" the Doctor repeated.

"So what happened?"

"I killed children"

"WHAT?" Martha shouted in surprise. "Was it an accident?"

"No" the Doctor spun round before sighing and turning back to face his former companion. "I did it on purpose on that day when all the bad things happened"

"When you ended the Time War?"

"Yeah…"

"How… How many?"

"Two point four seven billion" he answered.

"Oh my god" Martha clapped her hand to her mouth and gasped.

"It was either that or allow the Daleks to have free reign over Gallifrey and all the time travel technology there" the Time Lord started shaking. "Can you image that choice, Martha? For you the hardest decision is buying new shoes or not. For me it is the fate of the universe or saving a few children"

"I know you said you had to kill your own people, but I just didn't know it was that bad"

"Well now you know" said the Doctor with a trace of anger. "How is Mandy anyway?" he asked.

"She's got a few things that need looking at, but the TARDIS is well stocked for that as always. She might a little sick from the injections, but that's perfectly alright for Humans. Might I suggest a few days somewhere quiet?"

"The Vortex is quiet"

"A place that not many people can reach you at"

"Oh" the Doctor frowned. "Ah, what about the Eye of Orion? I took Tegan and Turlough there once a couple of centuries ago"

"Whats it like?"

"The entire planet is tranquil as anything you can think of" the Doctor leaned on the console and smiled at memories. "Positive ions hitting the planet creates a field of contentment, joy, pleasure, calmness… Birds are flying around and singing in trees and in the sky, deer walk around in the forests…"

"Deer?"

"My people were never able to figure that bit out" he admitted. "It's like Earth after a thunderstorm and it's been raining"

"The promise of a new day? A new adventure?"

"A new life" the smile dropped a little.

"Sorry. What do you plan to do with Mandy?"

"That makes her sound like a toy, Jones" the Doctor scolded her. "I'm surprised at you!" he laughed. "Like I said to you earlier, she can't return to her own time and I am not dropping her anywhere she could reveal stuff that the public shouldn't know"

"You could wipe her mind"

"NO!" the Doctor's sudden outburst startled Martha. "I'm not going to do that to an innocent girl. If I did that I would be no better than a Dalek or Cyberman. She wants to stay with me and I'm going to let her"

"Do you even know _how_ to look after a child?"

"Once"

"Bad day?"

"Bad day" the Doctor agreed. "There is something else you could do for me, actually"

"Oh?"

"Well Mandy has all her clothes with her, but that's not really a lot. I was thinking that you could take her shopping"

"Why can't you?" Martha asked with curiosity.

"I'm banned from Tesco" he muttered.

"You've got to be joking! Okay, maybe not… Why?"

"I tried to picket the shops because they wouldn't sell Fish Custard" the Doctor frowned at Martha who was bent double with laughter. "Stop laughing, Jones, or I'll tell Mickey about that night on Moffat's World where you ended up sleeping with the High Priest R T Davis" he looked at the TARDIS displays. "What's the date today?" he asked.

"November 11th" Martha replied instantly.

"Ah" the Doctor nodded in understanding. "I had better buy a wreath or something" and the woman knew what the Doctor meant. He had once told her that every November 11th he would set the TARDIS for Earth and lay a wreath of Poppies at the UNIT memorial and also a wreath laid at the cenotaph in London. When she had asked why, the Doctor had only replied that it was because he was honouring a group of people who gave up their lives so that there might be peace.

"The TARDIS should have something appropriate for Mandy to wear in the wardrobe if she has nothing suitable in her own stuff" Martha agreed. She left the Doctor to tinker with the controls somewhat, and found Mandy in her room looking at a picture what she assumed to be her family. "Hey… Look, the Doctor has to go to something important and he thought you might want to do something while he is busy"

"Okay"

"We just have to find you something suitable to wear from the TARDIS wardrobe. After that, the Doctor is giving me a load of money and we're going shopping"

"Why?"

"Because he thinks you might need more clothes"

"I brought everything that I could" Mandy said defensively.

"Oh, well he knows that of course… But the TARDIS told him you don't have anything suitable for this event. And…" she leaned in as if sharing a secret, "We can buy you all sorts of stuff to decorate your room here as well as more than just the clothes you have from the place you came from"

"What's wrong with checks?"

"Nothing, but Earth in this time period has lots of different styles" Martha told the girl. "Besides, I think it's a TARDIS rule"

"The Doctor has a rule about clothes?" Mandy frowned in confusion.

"No – the TARDIS herself does. Trust me, Mandy, because I am a Doctor"

"Not like me" called the Doctor as he randomly walked past the girl's room.

"I hate it when he does that" Martha muttered. Mandy just smiled and laughed as she thought about another new thing in her new life with the Doctor. When the Doctor had been removing all of her close family and friends, he had explained to her parents that because of the complicated rules of time Mandy could not live them. If she did, the very fabric of the universe would become undone and destroy all life. It had been hard for her parents to accept it, but they knew tales of the Doctor – an honest and most honourable man who helped all that he could. When they had asked the Doctor why they and the others had been saved, he had simply replied with "I know what it is like to watch your family die" and they'd left it at that.

# # # # #

"This has got more money on it then I could ever earn in a lifetime" Martha said as she looked at the display on the screen of the Hole-In-The-Wall.

"How much?" asked Mandy with curiosity. She had changed into a pleated knee length red skirt, pale brown blouse, knee length multi-coloured socks and black shoes. When the Doctor had seen the socks, he had remarked on how he had a scarf like that in a previous incarnation which had always been one of his favourite faces.

"According to this" Martha replied, "The Doctor has seventeen million, six hundred and twenty two thousand, one hundred and four pounds and fifty three pence"

"Is that a lot?"

"Just about" said Martha. After taking out a thousand pounds, thinking it was better to have too much then too little, they went to a shopping centre outside London where the two spent the money they had, and more as well, on everything a girl Mandy's age could ever want or need. By the time they had finished, Mandy's head was spinning. She'd never had this much spent on her clothing before as there was a lack of resources on Starship UK for anything like the styles and colours she'd seen in the various shops. Three hours later, Martha had brought her 15 new T-shirts, 15 pairs of jean and khaki trousers. 10 new skirts, 10 new dress shirts, 5 new dresses, a plethora of undershirts and pants, several pyjama sets and 3 pairs of shoes; a basic set of tennis shoes, a pair of hiking boots and a dressy pair that was black to match the black Mary-Jane style ones she currently wore. "How about we put this just inside the TARDIS for now and we go and get some lunch - you look like a girl that would love pizza"

"Pizza?" Mandy frowned.

"Tell me they have that from the time you come from"

"We do, but we only used to get it on 'Italian Cowardly Changing Sides Day'. I always liked the cheese ones, and the sausage ones, and the chicken ones…" Mandy recited the ones she liked.

"I'll take that as a yes" Martha laughed.

#

"That everything?" asked the Doctor as he met up with them later on. He had consulted the TARDIS database and realised that Fish Fingers and Custard was not really the best food for children. As much as he hated shopping, UNIT had always done that for him after he'd soniced a lift to go faster at Harrods back in 1975, he wrote out a list of all the foods suggested by the TARDIS and brought it all and placed it into the cupboards and fridges in the kitchen. Making himself a cup of tea and sitting in the kitchen, he had wondered about how it would be to have a child on the TARDIS once more. Mandy would be the youngest person he had ever had on the time travelling machine. To Human eyes, he supposed, Susan looked youngish, but the girl was only a child by Gallifreyan standards. Then again, he had thought as he sipped the tea, children often found ways of doing things that adults could never. He remembered the time Susan had come up with an interesting solution for a test at the Academy – if a barrier stopped you from going through something, then fly over it.

"Yep" Mandy brought the Doctor out of his thoughts.

"Blimey! You girls need a lot of clothes, don't you"

"Of course we do" said Martha. "Buts that's rich coming from the man that has a wardrobe that has its own bus service"

"That's the TARDIS" said the Doctor. "Are you sure that I can't persuade you to travel again?" he asked Martha.

"I'd rather stay on Earth" she replied, "But what about taking me a few hours into the past? I could catch up on some sleep"

"Fair enough" the Doctor agreed.

"Can you stay for dinner?" asked Mandy.

"What's on the menu?" Martha was careful as the Doctor was known to cook some strange things in the TARDIS kitchen.

"Chips, Chicken Kiev, peas and carrots" the Doctor replied.

"You've been reading up on Earth foods?" Martha was surprised.

"More or less" came the reply. "I wanted to make sure that I could do things for Mandy and not have her rely on the TARDIS all the time.

"You'll be a good dad one day" Martha laughed.

"I was once, Martha Jones… I was once" and the suddenly saddened alien turned and left the console room.

"Still sensitive to that, I guess" the woman winced.

"It was a bad day" Mandy helpfully supplied. "The bad day when all the bad things happened"

"Tell you what, Martha, how about you stay for dinner and we'll pop over to the Eye of Orion for an hour? Least I could do for helping me" the Doctor said, coming back to the console room with a piece of equipment.

"Please…" Mandy begged. "I want to talk to you more"

"Oh, alright" the woman gave in to the twin looks of pleading from the Doctor and Mandy. "My room still where it is? I guess I could do with a shower and change for dinner". The Doctor nodded and gave directions and Martha left the pair as the Time Lord began to tell Mandy which mistakes she had made, why she had made them and how to not do them in the future. As she walked through the TARDIS corridors, her mind went back to when the previous version had told her about the Time War and how he had destroyed his entire planet to stop the Daleks. Those few moments with Mandy, Martha saw how the Doctor would have been with a child as a parent and knew the girl was in safe hands…

#

"I wish that lady could have stayed for a bit longer" Mandy said. After they had had dinner and spent a few hours on the Eye of Orion, the Doctor had taken Martha back home before setting the TARDIS to drift around in the vortex for a while.

"I do, but she's got a life now" the Doctor shrugged. "How about we go visit an alien planet or something?"

"Can we?" Mandy's face split into a brilliant and electric powered smile.

"We can go wherever we want – all of time and space is ours to choose" the Doctor returned the smile with equal strength.

"I want to go somewhere with lots of aliens" Mandy decided after a moment of thought. "Something alien and awesome"

"I have" the Doctor said as he set the destination into the navigation computer, "Just the place – the asteroid Tiaanamat" and with a flick of the wrist, the level to the Time Rotor was thrown and the Doctor and Mandy were off on Mandy's first adventure.

**A/N:**

**Okay, without using google or Tardis Wikia guess where Mandy is going for her first adventure.**

**A solid grounding chapter here I think but with a few nods to other works of mine such as the mention of Chicken Kievs – my favourite food that is mentioned in my fics by chapter 3. Also, continuing the tradition for all fics of mine released in November the mention of November 11****th**** and what it entails.**

**There are a few continuity nods and injokes to the Doctor Who universe in this chapter – the first person to correctly identify them as well as the location Mandy has landed as her first alien adventure gets a cameo in the next chapter.**

**As mentioned on my previous fanfic's release, note the change in updates now this one has been released on ym profile page.**

**Please send reviews in Hypercubes and send to me via the nearest transdimensional portal or time vortex entry point.**

**Regards**

**Pixel and Stephanie Forever**


	3. Doctor Domestic

**Doctor Domestic**

The TARDIS had to make a quick stop in Cardiff to get refuelled, though the Doctor had been reluctant to open the doors until he decided that he might as well glance through the shops with Mandy to see if anybody noticed they were not related. Nobody had, and a little chiming noise from the sonic screwdriver told him that the five hours refuelling was complete.

"Doctor?" a voice called out and made the pair turn around. A guy in jeans, blue shirt and white trainers was walking towards them with a grin on his face.

"Jack" the Doctor replied, "I can't stay to chat. Got people to see, babies to shake and hands to kiss"

"Why would you shake a baby?" asked Mandy.

"Whoops" the Doctor grinned. "I mean I have babies to kiss and hands to shake"

"Better" Mandy declared. "Who is this?" she asked.

"Captain Jack Harkness" the Doctor told her.

"Hi" Mandy held her hand out which Jack shook. "What are you a Captain of?"

"The innuendo squad"

"Whats that mean?"

"Its... Its an adult thing" Jack said, glaring at the Doctor. "I presume you are refuelling?"

"Just finished" the Doctor said.

"Ah... So who exactly are you?" Jack asked Mandy.

"I'm Amanda Tanner, but I hate Amanda so I like to be called Mandy" Mandy said. "I'm living with the Doctor"

"Its complicated" the Doctor said. "Mandy, why don't you go into the TARDIS and ask her to make some tea? You can cut the sandwiches with her supervision"

"Okay" and the girl skipped inside.

"So you've regenerated"

"Yep"

"Huh... So whats the story with the girl?"

"Complicated and a very long story, Jack. Suffice to say that Mandy has to live with me now, her parents do actually know about it, they're alive and no I am not helping you at Torchwood"

"Awww, come on - you have to give me something better then that"

"What if I told you I saved her life at the cost of others and then broke the laws of time to save her family and a few close friends?"

"You broke the laws of time? I'm no Time Lord, but I know that's bad and downright dangerous. What made you do that?" he asked.

"Because Mandy is a child, crying and asked me for help" a sad look came over the Doctor's face. It was, Jack decided, that exact same look when he had briefly travelled with the Time Lord when he had mentioned about his Granddaughter, Susan.

"She's human?"

"Yeah"

"I don't recognise her name from anything I've seen or heard about"

"This isn't the time" the Doctor said. Jack knew enough about timelines to know he shouldn't ask much more about what happened when Mandy came onboard the TARDIS. "Look, I really have to get going, Jack - you've..." the Doctor glanced around as if looking for something or someone. "You've got an issue with 456 waves"

"Huh?"

"Just that - four five six" and Jack's eyes widened.

"What happened to not breaking the laws of time?"

"You've already dealt with them" said the Doctor, "So you're well aware of them. Besides, no other Time Lords to deal with me for letting slip a few things. You know, that Gwen of yours is going to have kids... Might want to take her on a visit to Sarah-Jane Smith"

"Right" Jack knew the Doctor was giving him as much information as was thought safe. "Will I see you again?" he asked.

"Oh, of course you will" the Doctor grinned as he tugged his bowtie.

"I'll look forward to it" Jack straightened and saluted - the Doctor rolling his eyes in return. After exchanging goodbyes, the Doctor stepped into the TARDIS which vanished with its normal wheezing and groaning noise - with a little blast of wind coming from the ship itself. 'I hate you' Jack said. The TARDIS, it seemed, was still annoyed at Jack.

#

"Doctor?"

"Hmm?"

"If your money only works on Earth, then how are we going to buy stuff on the place we're going?"

"The TARDIS has a room just filled with money" the Doctor said in reply. He played around with a few controls here and there and briefly wondered about training Mandy to do some of the tasks. Nothing too serious, he went on thinking, but at least enough to give her something to do. The panel he had in mind did, after all, have at least several shiny buttons...

"Really?"

"Yup! Now, why don't you get out of that uniform and we'll have dinner"

"Are you cooking?"

"Yep"

"What are we having?" Mandy asked, watching the Doctor make a last adjustment or two.

"Food that I thought we'd both like – Fish and Chips with mushy peas"

"Mushy peas?" Mandy frowned.

"Like custard, only its thicker and got peas in it and its green"

"Sounds cool"

"Oh, its one of the best foods you're people ever made. I'm surprised you never had it before"

"Not enough space for fish to grow and live on a spaceship" Mandy said. "_Almost_ any ship" she added quickly so she didn't offend the TARDIS. "Can I ask you something?"

"You already have, but something else can't hurt" the Doctor replied.

"Can I hear what you sound like?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well I want to hear you speak Doctorish"

"Doctorish?" the Doctor blinked for several seconds. "Oh" he realised, "You want to hear me speak Gallifreyan" and Mandy nodded. "Okie dokie... Can you turn off the translation circuits for a few seconds, old girl?" and the screens flashed up TRANSLATION CIRCUITS OFFLINE. "Hello, Amanda Tanner. It is very nice to meet you and I hope you are enjoying your stay on the TARDIS" and then the screens flashed TRANSLATION CIRCUITS ONLINE.

"Wow..." Mandy breathed. A look of awe was on her face as if God had suddenly come down from the sky, looked at the girl and asked if she wanted to go down to the park for a kick around.

"You okay?"

"That... That was cool" Mandy said. "It was musical and everything" she added. "Excuse me, but are you God?" and the Doctor chuckled.

"Some people do seem to think so" he replied. "No, I'm not a God. Do you happen to believe in God or Gods or Godess or Godesses?" and Mandy laughed a little at the Doctor's pattern of speach.

"I do believe in God" she nodded. "Does that bother you at all?" and the Doctor shook his head.

"Doesn't bother me what people believe in, Mandy. If you want to believe in God, then thats just fine... I'm sure the TARDIS can whip you a Church or something"

"Why do that?" asked Mandy.

"Because I want to do as much as possible to give you a normal life, Mandy. When Susan and I left, it... was awkward"

"I understand. It was a bad day"

"Bad day" the Doctor agreed. "Now, howabout we get dinner and then we'll go to your first adventure" and Mandy nodded and skipped out of the console room and to the kitchen. Most of the things in there either the Doctor or the TARDIS herself refused to let her use, but they did agree that the fridge, kettle, toaster, status cupboard and the alien version of the microwave was harmless enough.

#

"Excuse me, TARDIS, but may I please have the bread and the butter and a knife?" Mandy asked. There was a pause before a small breeze whipped round her legs and the girl giggled before making opening a drawer and taking out a small knife. Moving over to the fridge, she took out the butter which she opened before reaching into the status cupboard and removing the bread. Taking out a few slices, she used the knife to spread the butter over each slice, cutting them into triangles as she went along.

"Ah, that is good work there..." the Doctor said. He'd come in without his normal jacket on and instead was wearing a blue woollen jacket with leather shoulders and around the neck. His bow tie was missing and his top shirt button was undone too - Mandy could not help it but laugh.

"Oi!" the Doctor protested. "I can do casual... Now, I'll get the fish and the chips ready to go while you make the cups of tea. I should have some English teabags somewhere in one of these cupboards, but I am sure the TARDIS knows better then me" and there was a sound that Mandy took to be the TARDIS agreeing that she knew better. Once the fish and chips were cooked, the pair sat at the kitchen table and ate – talking in-between mouthfuls about Tiaanamat and how the Doctor had visited hundreds of years ago with Susan. On his last visit, they had discovered that things were traded not with money but with things that had great sentimental value. Mandy had instantly said she didn't want to give away anything that belonged to her that reminded her of her family.

"Oh, I am sure that that can not happen" said the Doctor, sipping his tea.

"But how are we going to buy anything?"

"I'll think of something" the Doctor said. "I've got rooms of stuff we can trade, so you'll be fine. Now, I've set the TARDIS to hang around deep space for a while until you have woken up in the morning and had breakfast"

"Thanks"

"You are welcome. Now, what do you want to watch after dinner?"

"Can we go to the movie room please and watch the one with the woman and the little people?" Mandy finished her bread and butter before draining the last of her tea.

"You mean 'Snow White'? I haven't watched that in ages... Tell you what, I know somewhere I have some popcorn. You go and finish packing your new clothes away and I'll get that ready. Martha told me you shouldn't eat sweets right after dinner, and she is a Doctor so she should know"

"So are you"

"Good point – popcorn after dinner!" the Doctor grinned as he stood to take the plates to the sink. The TARDIS would take care of them, but the kitchen had long ago been designed by one of his previous human companions and they'd deigned it necessary to have a sink in the kitchen – and the Time Lord had got into the habit of using it when he had companions and slash or assistants.

"Then can you tell me more about Teiranrat?"

"Tiaanamat" the Doctor corrected gently. "Not much to really say actually. Standard little asteroid colony and space station. It sits in the rings of a Class T gas planet and has a few other asteroids big enough to have a few things on it – but Tiaanamat is the best one out of the lot. Species from every part of the Galaxy go there from Humans to Hath. Most of the time, people go there to meet new races, exchange navigation charts, swap tall tales and just make new friends"

"Sounds cool"

"Susan certainly thought so. It was her that got me my old cane, after all..."

"Past life?"

"My very first, actually" the Doctor replied.

"You must have seen loads of cool stuff"

"Oh yes, Mandy, but I have also seen some not-cool stuff"

"Like what?"

"Like a lot of stuff you are too young to know about yet. Hopefully, you'll never have to experience it but I will tell you when you are older"

"Okay – I can wait I suppose" and the girl smiled and hugged the Doctor to cheer him up. He seemed, at least to her, in desperate need of a hug and a smile very quickly. "Maybe we could get the TARDIS something" she said.

"And what do you get a Type 40 Time Travelling Capsule?" the Doctor chuckled. Past companions had had this argument and discussion with him before and almost all had come back with tapestries, silk wall hangings, curtains and all manner of things.

"A door mat"

"I beg your pardon" the Doctor blinked. He had certainly not been expecting that for an answer.

"Well I bet the TARDIS hates it if we bring in out muddy shoes without wiping them, so why not buy it a door mat?" and the Doctor was stunned at being out witted by his miniature human.

"What do you think, old girl?" he asked. The TARDIS instantly issued a musical series of notes that sounded like laughter and then warm air swirled around them. "Fine, we'll buy you a door mat as soon as we can find one. Now, Mandy, you go get the movie ready whilst I sort out the popcorn"

"Yes, daddy" and Mandy left the kitchen as the Time Lord felt both his hearts skip several beats at the seemingly accidental slip of the tongue. The TARDIS made some comforting noises and the Doctor felt a pressure on both shoulders – the best the time travelling capsule could do in lieu of a hug.

"Thanks" he said quietly. He rummaged around a cupboard before pulling out an oversized bowl and a large bag of popcorn left over from when Ace had travelled with him.

#

They ended watching two films before Mandy yawned which, according to a parenting manual the Doctor had reviewed in the TARDIS memory banks, meant it was time for the girl to go to bed. After letting her change into her pyjamas, a sort of deep purple with gold flecks combination, he tucked Mandy into the bed and sat beside it as he read her a bedtime story from his own childhood - 'The Adventures of Rassilon'. By the time he'd finished, she was asleep and so he gently closed the book, mentally asked the TARDIS to lower the lighting level to minimums, switched on the night-light that also was a bad dream eliminator and left the room.

I am the Doctor

I am a Time Lord

I'm from the planet Gallifrey, in the constellation of Kasterborous

I am the Oncoming Storm

I am a father again...

_The father to a girl you essentially kidnapped_

"Oh be quiet" the Doctor said as the TARDIS brushed his mind.

_You did you know_

"Okay then... If you want to go on about kidnapping, I seem to remember a Type 40 TT that kidnapped a Time Lord a fair few hundred years ago"

_I don't know the TARDIS you are on about_ the TARDIS almost sniffed.

"Really? Well it was last seen pretending to be a police telephone box from Sol III. Ring any bells?"

_I'll ring yours you cheeky Time Lord_

"I'd like to see you try" the Doctor chuckled as he walked back to the movie room to clear up. "Sexy?"

_Yes_?

"Thanks"

_You are most welcome, My Lord Doctor_

"Oh stop being so formal, you daft old thing... Disengage alarms for Mandy's room. I'll be in my room for some rest if you want me"

_If I want you? My dear, Doctor, why did you think I stole you all those years ago?_

**A/N:**

**Okay, ladies and gentlemen, thats it for another chapter, and now I am off on my month long break from writing. As mentioned in my other update, I will still reply to any and all reviews and private messages posted...**

**Pixel and Stephanie**


End file.
